  Hello Rev. {FULLNAME} !
So, on the plus side, we have some new things on the site. I promised some videos and they have appeared. I've done just a few so far, but if you all find them helpful, I'll be happy to do more. I put one on the front page of the site, as well as on the Ordination page, the Seminary Program, Chaplaincy Program, Wedding Training, and Funeral Ceremony pages too. I've gotten some pretty good feedback on them, but it was suggested I make them with better lighting. My brother is going to help me, but his girlfriend was attacked and that required all of us to help her get moved (it was her roommate) and my brother's attention has necessarily been there. I will do it though soon. If you have something you'd like to see a video on, please let me know on FB (or email).
 TWITTER & FACEBOOK - Firstly, I have admitted and owned the fact that I am a Cityville-Addict, so I have quit cold turkey. I deleted both of my magnificent cities in one fell swoop. I'm just trying to take it one day at a time. (smile) On a related note, I have a favor to ask. I have two accounts on FB - one for ULC and one for my martial arts. Many of you have friended me on both accounts.
 Since I use the Karate one for karate-related posts, karate business and other things, I would ask that if you have friended me on both, please unfriend me on the karate one. Nothing personal, but I'm working on marketing a book on Kenpo Karate and it gets confusing. Please do add yourself to the Twitter account and the Fan Page. I am on board with this stuff and post regularly. It's just easier for me to keep things a little more separated. If it happens that you are also a kenpoist, then please keep me on both. You will also find regular updates to Twitter on the front page of the site. Also, on some of the pages, there's an option to comment on the page and it will post both on the page and on FB, so check it out.
http://twitter.com/ulcseminary
http://facebook.com/pages/Universal-Life-Church-Seminary/285690034668
SALE FOR JUNE - We have more new stoles! I found some in a few other colors and they are really pretty. For those of you who want a stole with no particular religious symbolism, I found some in Red, Purple, and Green. Limited quantities for now. Just depends on interest. I still have the white wedding stoles too, so get 'em while they last!
You can find them here:
http://www.ulcseminary.org/store/product_info.php?products_id=216
LINK REQUEST - The one part of this job that is a bit of a pain the butt, but is unfortunately, necessary, is the need to get backlinks. By that, I mean links that go from other people's site to mine. Because the monastery took the site from its original owner, people often left the link or added the link to their newer site, even though they are no longer affiliate with the original ULC in Modesto, where most of you all were first ordained. They have since bought about 250 domain names and have the money and manpower to put sites on a lot of them.
With the Seminary, it's all me when it comes to any web content, marketing, etc. This means that instead of working on new programs and keeping up with mailings, I have to spend my time trying to figure out how internet search engine stuff works, along with everything else. So this is a request. If you have a website or blog, would you please put Universal Life Church with our link of http://www.ulcseminary.org, somewhere on your site? If you write the word and highlight it, then click the button that shows a chain, that's how to create a link (for those who don't know). It would be greatly appreciated. If I could get caught up on links, I could spend more time putting together more material for the site. I really appreciate it.
LATEST LESSONS - I think the latest thing I'm working on are chain reactions. By that, I mean that there are things in our past that we thought we were over, but still left behind a residue, or a button. Then something else happens, something perhaps less major or even just as big a deal, and it gets compounded by the memory of the original thing. So the old button gets pushed and the new button gets pushed and pretty soon, everything that was ever like that button is now shining brightly and driving you over the edge. So, what I'm finding is that when something happens that makes you want to see red, but talking about it doesn't quite resolve it, look a little farther. Let your mind clear for a minute and see what other things start to fill it. Chances are, that's what it's related to. Often, just recognizing what the related buttons are takes some of the charge off. You may discover the root of some of the problems, which can make it all feel a bit better.
Sometimes too, I've been noticing that even if there relationships which are important to you, and you know they are important to the other people, they may have to be put on hold for reasons that are beyond your control. As much as you might want them to continue (and I mean friendships too), there may be other factors that are beyond your control. I talk to people who say, "I just don't understand why we can't be friends. It makes no sense." For kids, maybe their parents have 'weird' rules that don't allow for it; for adults, it might be jealous spouses. (It doesn't even have to be an opposite-sex friendship - some people are jealous of any relationship that takes time or attention away from them.) And sometimes, even though it doesn't seem fair, you just have to let certain things go. Wow, feels hard to even write that. Of course, if it were easy, it wouldn't be much of a lesson, right?
If you're on FB, chime in. I'm curious about what you all think. Also, for those of you got the netlog invitation, don't feel obligated or give them your FB info. I misunderstood their request. I thought they were looking for people already on netlog, but it seems they sent an invitation to everyone on my friends list. So, I apologize for any inconvenience. Please disregard it and don't give them your FB info. I changed my password.
SEARCH FUNCTION - Really cool thing that I came across with Google. It's a personalized site function. It's at the top of most of the pages in the right hand column, just above a section for answering links to the most commonly asked questions. What's cool about the search function is that you can put in what you're looking for and it'll give you anything related that's listed on the site. I'm going to be adding in our other sites as well, so it can search across all of our domains. There is some annoying advertising at the end of the search, but it's a small price to pay to get to use the search function.
ARTICLE DIRECTORY - Since I continue to get flooded was low-quality spammy articles, it is taking me forever to wade through them. This doesn't mean I don't want yours though. So please, if and when you sign up, please send me a personal email to let me know (amy@ulcseminary.org) and tell me what your screen name is. I'll look for it, then set your account to publish automatically, so it gets posted. If you have sent any to me in the last month, please let me know so I can find them and get them approved. I have thousands sitting there and it's just a pain to try and filter through the stupid ring-tone articles and mortgage loan ones. And they tag it as 'spiritual' or 'general' or something.
http://www.ulcseminary.com
AFFILIATE PROGRAM - Please check out the affiliate program again. If you've downloaded the ULC Toolbar (http://ULCSeminary.OurToolbar.com/), you'll see there is now a direct link to go there. I've added some new pages to the affiliate program, so please sign up and look at the training videos that are available.
The link for the affiliate program is: http://www.ulcseminary.org/idevaffiliate/. It's still new, so more things will be added as I go, and there may be a few bugs, but I think it's ready to rock and roll right now.
- It's free to join
- You get a $10 bonus just for signing up.
- You earn money with every sale that comes through your link.
- You can track the link 24/7 to check on sales and traffic.
- You will get paid monthly.
- If you send me the pages that you have the banner on, I will help promote them through the search engines, which will help increase your sales.
You can put any or all of the links/banners, etc. on your website. I currently have several banners and some text links available, as well as a couple of html pages that you can put on your site. You can choose which banner(s) you like, depending on what products you want to market. Each banner takes you to a separate category in the store that sells only those items. Several of the pages also include the option for people to become ordained through your site. It's all part of the page, so you should be able to add it easily.
SPAM - INCLUDE A SUBJECT LINE PLEASE - If you want a response to your email, include a descriptive line. Anything with no subject is automatically deleted. Anything with 'hello' or 'hi amy' is deleted. 98% of those are spam, so I apologize if yours was one that wasn't.
As a PS: I love all the responses I've been getting from the 'kind words' mailings. Even if I don't respond, I certainly get a smile, so Thank You.
If you're new to the Seminary, check out announcements from previous months at http://www.ulcseminary.org/announcements.php
Warmly, Rev. Amy Long
President of ULC Seminary
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